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Reminder that our entire school starts the week with a Monday Morning Meeting in the cafeteria at the start of the school day. We share topics, recognize birthdays and more. Families are welcome to attend!
Then stick around for Caffeine with Janine starting at 9:10am -- it’s an open forum to ask questions of Principal Roy (and have some coffee). Big news! Our revised bell times have been approved for next year as we move to John Marshall School in Ravenna! This is allow more time for students to get to the school.
The SPS Board of Directors voted to establish QAE's bell times for 2018-19 as follows: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday - 8:50am Welcome Bell - 8:55am Classes Begin - 3:25pm Dismissal Wednesday - 8:50am Welcome Bell - 8:55am Classes Begin - 2:10pm Early Dismissal Planning Transportation for 2018-2019: QAE PTSA will work with SPS Transportation Department to begin planning bus routes for 2018-2019. All information updates will be shared here on the PTSA site as we work on this planning process together. If you have any questions, email Janine at jbroy@seattleschools.org or call QAE at 206-252-2480. Individual Piture Day is Thursday, September 20th. In addition to being able to order photos of your cute kid, individual pictures are used in the yearbook and for the Seattle Public Schools database. Students who are absent or want to retake can do so on Retake Day later in the Fall. We'll also be doing our annual All School photo and class photos at that time. You should have received a printed form in your child's orange folder. You can return it with cash or check on the 20th. Or you can prepay via credit card. To prepay for your pictures online:
Note: if you have more than one child at the school, you'll need to submit a separate order for each kid. If you have questions, please contact Yuen Lui Studio at 1-800-347-4667. UPDATED: SPS originally had next year's start time listed as 8am for the second bell. That has been changed to 7:55am (same as this year). See below for the updated 2017-18 schedule!
------- You may have heard, but the Seattle City Council approved a one-time grant to the school district to make the conversion from three bell times to two. That's just part of the changes coming for next year with the longer school day and consistent early dismissal on Wednesdays. This means that starting in 2017-18, QAE will have the following schedule:
See details from the email sent out by SPS below! ---------------- Final School Bell Schedules: Starting next year, there will be two tiers of bell schedules, and the school day will be 20 minutes longer. This change will result in more than two additional days of instruction for students. Changing to a two-tier bell schedule will eliminate the latest or third tier of school start and end times, which has been a hardship on many of our families. The City Council voted June 14 to approve one-time funds to move us to this new schedule. Thank you to Mayor Murray and numerous family advocates for bringing attention to this issue and to the City Council for finding a thoughtful funding solution. I also want to thank and recognize the many families who shared their perspectives and concerns with us. In response, we were able to make small modifications to the final two-tier bell schedules. These changes address possible loss of high school instructional time, maintain the current school start time for many elementary and K-8 schools (while also adding 20 minutes to the school day), and eliminate the third tier, ensuring that all students begin school by 9 a.m. The final schedule reflects the varied needs and perspectives of our families, students, staff and partners. 2017-18 School Calendar: The full 2017-18 School Year Calendar is now available including school breaks, holidays and early release days. The Seattle Education Association and the district negotiate the school calendar. To learn more about the calendar development process, please visit our School Year Schedule Update Announcement. Early Release Days: Currently, the district has a variety of early release days during the school year to support staff professional development. Next year, students and families will have a consistent weekly schedule. Students will be released 75 minutes early every Wednesday (except for the first day of school). This schedule change supports teacher collaboration and instructional planning. Dedicated time for teachers to collaborate and plan together is one of the most important strategies we use to ensure high quality instruction in every classroom. Thank you for your understanding as we make this important system shift. We recognize childcare is a challenge for many families and the need may increase because of the weekly early release day. Childcare options and resources can be found here. We will continue to update the childcare webpage throughout the summer in partnership with our many school-based providers. In closing, I believe these system changes will benefit our students and support our mission of ensuring every student is college, career and life ready. Thank you again for your patience as district staff, the School Board, our labor partners, the City and many others worked together to find the best possible schedule solutions for our families and students.  Lest you forget, next Wednesday, March 22nd, is an Early Release Day. School will be dismissed at 12:05 p.m.
If you're looking for an activity during this time, our former art teacher Amanda Amsel will be doing a Wacky Wednesday class! Wacky Wednesday with Amanda Amsel Come join the fun with Ms. Amsel for a day of Art making! We will be designing, creating, and constructing Rag Dolls using mixed media. We will also learn some basic stitching and sewing skills. Your Rag Dolls can be based off a Super Hero, a character from a book or a made up person. All supplies, a short recess, and a light snack are included. Deadline for sign-up: Friday, March 17th When: Wednesday, March 22nd, 12:05 - 2:05 p.m. Min/Max: 8 - 12 Students Cost: $30 Reserve a spot for your child here... QAE cares about our families and knows that there have been many experiences related to the Bell Time change this year. Members of our QAE PTSA reached out to our District and heard back from Pegi McEvoy, SPS Assistant Superintendent of Operations, who let us know that the District is accepting data from individual schools within SPS on the Bell Time issue.
QAE Bell Times Survey is an opportunity for us to communicate with our District and provide our QAE staff and PTSA data about the Bell Time issue as it relates to our community. There are only 11 questions on the survey and it should only take five minutes. The QAE Bell Times Survey must be taken by 1/2/17 by 10 p.m. so we can collate the data and communicate it to SPS. The data will not be used to advocate for one bell time over another and will be shared with our community after the holiday break. This survey's main intent is to let you know that we care about you and value the needs of our community. Please note that whatever QAE's preferences, scheduling bell times is a complex process where the District will consider feedback from all schools. Take the Bell Times Survey now... Background & Other Ways to Share Your Thoughts During the last contract negotiations between the District and the Seattle Education Association, the parties agreed to add 20 minutes instructional time each day as well as a one hour early dismissal each week to give teachers more time for collaboration and planning. After receiving feedback from families, teachers and staff, the initial proposal is to add 10 minutes to both the beginning and end of the day. Under this plan, the 2017-18 QAE school day would begin at 7:45 a.m. and end at 2:15 p.m. The early dismissal would be every Wednesday afternoon at 1:15 p.m. See this page on the School Schedule Recommendations for 2017-18 for more information. You can also share your thoughts directly with the District by writing to arrivaltimes@seattleschools.org. Special thanks to the amazing Christina Thibault, QAE parent, who helped to craft the survey and to Ms. Roy for support and collaboration. With Gratitude, Christa Winquist & Ian Stewart QAE PTSA Legislative Team  Ms. Amsel, our former art teacher, is returning by popular demand for an early dismissal art class on Wednesday, Nov. 16th from 12:05-2:05 p.m.
Wacky Fall Wednesday with Ms. Amsel Come join the fun with Ms. Amsel for a day of Art making! We will be constructing and building Fall related projects using mixed media. Students will move through art making stations and try different materials. With the use of paint, collage, and printmaking we will be creating a variety of artworks in this Wacky Wednesday art session! A short recess, and a light snack are included. Date: November 16th Time: 12:05pm - 2:05pm Min/Max: 8 - 24 Students Cost: $30 RSVP now to reserve a space... Information for enrolled families about the upcoming school year is posted on our website, and will continue to be updated / expanded over the coming days.
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